Florida Board of Medicine

The rules prohibit doctors from prescribing puberty-blocking, hormone and hormone “antagonist” treatments for patients under 18. The rules would not apply to children already receiving treatments.

Members of the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted on a draft rule that would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming treatments to people younger than 18.

Trans patients say social support and hormone treatments are improving their overall well-being. And contrary to what some state officials claim, doctors insist they are not performing surgeries on young kids.

A joint committee of the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine will discuss a draft rule that could restrict doctors from providing transgender treatments to people younger than 18.

A group known as Surgeons for Safety and seven doctors challenged the emergency rule at the 3rd District Court of Appeal, arguing in part that the new restrictions would not boost patient safety.

The decision came after the Florida Department of Health last month filed a petition asking the medical board to initiate a rule-making process on the contentious issue.

The petition proposes what is known as a “standard of care” that would prohibit patients under age 18 from receiving sex-reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking, hormone and hormone “antagonist” treatments.

Physicians who don’t comply with the new requirements could face disciplinary action from their state boards if complaints are filed and found to have merit.

A website lists a wide range of conditions - from cancer to incontinence to pelvic organ prolapse to COVID-19 recovery - that can be addressed through physical therapy.

At issue is a provision that requires physicians to have in-person consultations with patients before prescribing obesity-treatment drugs, which is inconsistent with the state’s telehealth law.